Monday, January 07, 2008

Kenosha: Change is in the air

Kenosha's recent aldermanic elections have seen only a handful of contested races and little turnover.

This spring could bring radically different results.

A city-record 38 people are running in aldermanic elections, including 26 non-incumbents. Those numbers come as Mayor John Antaramian is not seeking re-election after 16 years in the office. And five incumbent aldermen - Everett Butler, Mike Pitts, Kenneth Polzin Jr., Julia Robinson and Sam Spair - are not running.

But while those seeking aldermanic seats hope to be a part of change in the city, very few said turnover in the mayor's office and the City Council were their main motivation for joining the race.

I suppose it depends on whom you ask, some want the changes to come to Kenosha government, some do not.

But the change is inevitable.

For 16 years, Kenosha has had the same mayor, John Antaramian. The mayor has chosen not to run for re-election.

This, obviously, will bring change.

Many folks are excited about the new path Kenosha will be taking and others are nervous.

Clearly, changes are coming to the city council also. Just like the mayor, many of the same people have been alderman in Kenosha for a long time. Most have run unchallenged for years. Even when challenged, the incumbents won re-election.

Those days are over.

A record number of 38 people are currently running for alderman in Kenosha. 26 of them are challenging incumbents.

Clearly, Kenosha is headed in a new direction. In a few short months, Kenosha's future will change.

Where that will lead will come down to who is elected as mayor and who is elected as alderman.

Kenosha has a lot of different choices to make and I think it is very exciting to see so many people step up to lead Kenosha is a new direction.